


Brothertale: Sans

by AmyMay2



Series: Brothertale [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Genocide Run, Genocide Run's Concequences, My First Fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:54:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyMay2/pseuds/AmyMay2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A promise from a psychopath to a dying skeleton: “You know what, Sans? This was so fun, I may even let you remember it next time.”<br/>It turns out, Chara's true to her word. But with Sans having actual memories of a previous timeline, as well as some meddling by Frisk and Papyrus, Chara may be in for a bad time</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grins and Eye Glows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to tsukithewolf, because their Undertale fanfic was so good it inspired me to start writing one of my own. Don't worry though, it's not based on theirs. I'd still recommend you read their Dreams of the Past and Present, because it's AWESOME! W-wait, actually, don't! It'll make mine look bad in comparison...
> 
> Speaking of looking bad, if anyone knows how to use different fonts on this site, I would really appreciate you letting me know! I've looked at all of the code-y kinda formatting thing, but trying to make my own work skin was giving me a headache.

Sans used to love the hallway outside King Asgore’s castle. It was one of the only places in the underground that had the illusion of real light. The orange glow was like a never-ending sunset. Although, it probably did end, eventually. Not that they would ever reach that point unless Chara just gave up and stopped LOADING.  
They were coming back. _Again_. They looked really mad.  
“ hmm. that expression... that’s the expression of someone who’s died ten times in a row,” he said as they approached. “hey, congrats! the big one-oh! let’s invite all your friends over for a big shindig. we can have pie, and hot dogs, and... hmmm... wait. something’s not right. you don’t have any friends.”  
Chara charged, knife glinting in the light that Sans used to love. Sans’ eyes flared up in response, ready to use all his magic if he had to. After all, once they LOADED it would all be there again, so there was no need to hold anything back. They got further this time, and Sans almost had to resort to his special attack. Luckily they got clipped by a blaster at the last second. As the kid’s soul crumbled, Sans felt the strange but entirely-too-familiar wrenching on his soul as the timeline-  
  
Sans used to love the hallway outside King Asgore’s castle. It was one of the only places in the underground that had the illusion of real light. The orange glow was like a never-ending sunset. Although, it probably did end, eventually. Not that they would ever reach that point unless Chara just gave up and stopped LOADING.  
...  
...  
...  
Had they-?  
There was a glint of steel by his right eye a second before the pain hit. Sans spun as he fell, staring up at Chara as what was left of his vision started to fade. _they sneaked up behind me. must’ve hidden behind the pillars, in the shadows..._ In the end, the light had worked against him. Chara leaned down close, wearing an expression that Sans wouldn’t even grace with a description. Gleefully, they carved Sans’ face into a grin that mirrored their own. And, after all this time, he finally heard them speak.  
“You know what, Sans? This was so fun, I may even let you remember it next time.”  
  
His whole room was glowing blue, and he could hear some sort of wailing. _oh, that’s my voice,_ he thought before the moment of peaceful observation ended and he fully regained consciousness. He was screaming in pain, gripping his right eye socket so hard that he had managed to scrape off a bit of his own skull. Or was it just falling apart on its own? The bone fragments turned to dust and floated in the air, caught in the blue magic that was currently gripping everything in the room. His left eye was filled with magic, but it was the right that was burning. Why was he still alive? It should have only taken one hit. Where was he now? It looked like his room in Snowdin, but he hadn’t been there since-  
“ SANS?” yelled a voice from the doorway. Sans’ head snapped up, and his shock disrupted the blue magic, leaving Sans to fall back down onto his dust-covered bed.  
“p- pap...?” he gasped, hardly believing his eyes. His vision was blurry, but it was definitely his brother. Suddenly, he felt a familiar, no, strange wrenching feeling and remembered where he was. He was home. There had never been a human, it was only the nightmares again, and, most importantly, he was scaring Papyrus. He immediately took on his casual air, keeping his right eye closed in case it really was messed up. “no worries, bro. it’s just magic build-up. i kinda forgot to use any between naps yesterday.”  
“SANS, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT FORGETTING TO USE MAGIC? THIS IS BECOMING ANOTHER HABIT OF YOURS!” Papyrus chided.  
Oh. Sans had used that excuse a few times before, hadn’t he? Somehow, he had forgotten that. “sorry. i’ll go work it off now,” he said, slipping on his jacket and ignoring Papyrus’ claims that it was too late for a walk. “if i don’t go now, it’ll leave me feeling a bit... blue!” He said, pointing at his left eye with a grin. Now that the shock had worn off, it was glowing again. He really did have way too much magic in him. Papyrus groaned at the pun and marched back to his room without another word. A quick listen at the door told Sans that he was moving things about and muttering. He was probably playing at mock battles again, like he usually did when everyone else was asleep. That was good. It would distract him long enough for Sans to get some air. And he really did have to work off some magic.  
He made his way north, thanking his lucky roof-crystals that the Ice Wolf didn’t notice him, and the Riverperson wasn’t there. Sitting at the riverside, he took off his slippers and dipped his legs into the water, letting the flowing water calm him. He was finally starting to forget... whatever it was he dreamed about. He was about to get up and float a few things around for a while when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the water.  
His face wasn’t broken and shattered anymore, but the damage was still there. His right eye was completely dark, even while his left was lit up with magic and fear. And that smile... no matter how had he tried, he couldn’t stop smiling. Even trying to physically push the corners of his mouth down with his hands had no effect. The water had started boiling around Sans’ legs and the snow melted where he touched it. He realized just in time that he was about to have a complete magical overload. With a scream of desperation, he created as many blasters as he could muster and shot lasers straight into the sky until he collapsed. He was panting from the exertion, but felt a little better. At least the buzzing of excess magic was gone, so he could think clearly.  
_did_ i _do this to myself?_ he wondered. It was likely. He remembered the feeling of his fingers scraping across his skull as he writhed in pain. Tracing his fingers over the small gouges, he decided that had to be it. The other option... that the dream, no, dreams, there had been more than one, he remembered waking up from them, had been real...  
No. It couldn’t have been. He did it to himself, and that was that. But now he had to make sure Papyrus wouldn’t worry. Sans had never been able to match his brother when it came to healing magic, having never needed to heal himself before, but he had healed Papyrus a few times when they were kids so he knew the basics.  
He concentrated, holding his hand against his right eye (he hadn’t noticed or maybe he was just ignoring it, but it still hurt like hell) and willing it to heal. It was much harder than he remembered it being, although that could have been because it was always easier to picture Papyrus healthy rather than himself. Seeing Papyrus hurt was-  
_Dust and snow were so hard to tell apart, but the red cloth poking out of the fresh snow couldn’t have been clearer._  
Sans gasped, fresh gashes on his skull where his fingers scraped across the bone and shocked him awake. The sight in his right eye was totally gone. He healed the gashes, more focused now. He couldn’t slip again, not if that was what he would see.  
While he was on the topic of seeing, he supposed he would have to try to fix his vision. With some effort (god, the blasters had taken more out of him than he thought they would), he managed to get the magic burning in his sockets again. Or, looking at his reflection, he noticed that only the left eye was burning. The right eye was still dark.  
_lifeless..._ he thought with a shudder. He forced the magic to burn brighter, focusing entirely on his right eye. Eventually, there was a slight flicker of light in it. The flood of relief managed to light it up the rest of the way. He still couldn’t see out of it, but at least Papyrus wouldn’t be able to tell. He took his time, practicing lighting up his right eye without making his left glow blue. It wasn’t perfect, but as long as he stayed calm it was possible. Feeling utterly drained, he dragged himself back home and made it as far as the couch before passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was kind of hard to make it clear without ruining the pacing, but both of Sans' eyes glow in the first part. It's only after Chara messes with how much carries over to a reset that he can only glow one.


	2. Dust and Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the Papyrus parts of Brothertale have started, and I'd recommend you read them both at the same time (Sans chapter first, that the Papyrus version). At the start they should be perfectly readable if you only want to read one at a time, but later parts may not work that way. Who knows though? I only have the plot worked out, not how it will be written!  
> Still, if you're set on only reading one, keep this in mind: while the Sans parts are probably written better (since I'm more confident writing for Sans), the Papyrus parts are kinda the point of the story, and less run-of-the-mill than the Sans ones.
> 
> Also, I can't promise every update will be this soon after the other.

Sans was aching all over when he woke up. He had fallen asleep on the couch with his arms and legs at weird angles, and his head still hurt. Although that wasn’t such a bad thing, because it reminded him to focus on making his eyes look normal for Pap.  
“TODAY IS THE DAY!” Papyrus said, practically running down the stairs. “WE’RE GOING TO MEET A HUMAN!”  
“can you feel it... in your bones?” Sans asked, glad to be back to the old schedule. For some reason, it seemed like so long since he had been able to joke with Papyrus, but he _knew_ they had talked like this only last night. Still, something seemed off. Didn’t Papyrus usually say _capture_ a human, not meet one?  
“ WAS THAT A PUN?” Papyrus asked, glaring. He threw on his cape as Sans stretched, then they both headed out for ‘guard duty’. Not that any humans had come through in their lifetime. Still, Sans couldn’t shake the feeling of dread in the air.  
It was a moment before he realized that Papyrus was looking at him. He seemed confused. “... what?” Sans asked, not liking that look. Had Pap already noticed his eye? He thought it was about the same brightness as the other one, but without looking at his reflection he couldn’t be sure.  
“AREN’T YOU GOING TO GO CHECK YOUR BASEMENT FRIENDS?”  
“oh yeah. can’t forget them, can i? stay here while i have a look. they’re pretty shy, so if they see you they might run off,” Sans said, turning toward the basement door. Lying to Papyrus for the second time in only a few hours made Sans feel like dirt, but he didn’t want his brother seeing what he really had down there.  
His lab was pretty barren, but there was a mirror down there which he usually used to make sure none of his work had gotten on his clothes. It could be dangerous to bring anything back up with him. But now he could just check his eye to make sure he had it right. The anxiety had made it a little smaller and almost imperceptibly dimmer. Not too bad though, considering what had happened (considering what that child had done to him).  
Alright, the double-thinking had to stop before it got out of hand. He had done this to _himself_ , and blaming some made-up nightmare creature wouldn’t help him fix anything (but if he was sure of that, he would check the readings from the machine). But he didn’t need to check the readings, because nothing had happened. In fact, just this once he was going to skip checking anything out of spite (fear). He had wasted enough time to make Papyrus happy, so with that he made his way back up to where he was waiting.  
“QUICKLY, SANS! WE MUST SEE TO OUR PUZZLES! IT HAS BEEN QUITE SOME TIME SINCE YOU RECALIBRATED YOURS!” Papyrus said as he approached.  
“howsabout you get yours all set up first? your puzzles are cooler than mine anyway, and one of us has to keep a lookout.”  
“HMM, ALRIGHT... BUT DON’T THINK YOU CAN AVOID PUZZLEMAKING FOREVER! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus said before he ran off.  
Sans smiled (thought of smiling through the grin) and took a shortcut to the knock-knock door. He tried knocking, but it didn’t seem like anyone was there. With a shrug, he leaned against a tree and started napping.

It was some time later when he heard the grinding sound of the stone door slowly opening. He jerked awake, shocked (scared). Maybe it was the lady from behind the door? (He knew it was the human.) Sure enough, it was. Sans broke out in a cold sweat.  
_alright. so it’s a human. so i should have checked the readings. so i should have set up some traps. so what? i don’t know for sure it’s the same one. just because it looks exactly the same, doesn’t mean it’s really the same one._  
Still, it was a human covered in dust and heading right for where Papyrus was setting up his puzzles. Sans followed, making use of a few short-range shortcuts to keep out of sight. Maybe it would veer off the path? (He had to interrupt it. He couldn’t let Papyrus be alone with it.)  
“H u m a n .” he said, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. The human turned, seemingly unfazed by the harsh edge in his voice. He held out a trembling hand, because he had to know if it was really there. Maybe he’s pass right through it and was just going crazy. (He was going crazy anyway.)  
The human took his hand and the hilarious fart noise helped to ease his nerves a little. “ heheh... the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s ALWAYS funny.” The human just stood there, looking at him. “... that’s, uh... your cue to laugh. or, uh, to emote at all...?” Still nothing. Maybe they were deaf (or only found the suffering of others funny)? “okay. that’s fine. everyone’s got their own sense of humor. i’m sans. sans the skeleton.” (It already knew his name, so of course it didn’t react.) “i’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but... y’know... i don’t really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus... he’s a human-huntin FANATIC” If he captured it, Papyrus would want to make sure it was comfortable in the ‘doghouse’, which would mean letting him get close to it. Even though Sans knew that it wasn’t (denied that it was) the thing from his nightmares, he still felt uneasy about it. The damn double-thinking was going crazy around it, so there had to be something wrong with it, temporally speaking.  
Before he could say anything else, he saw Papyrus in the distance. He must have already reset all of those puzzles. Sans tried to get the human to hide, but they wouldn’t even look at the lamp. They just kept staring, this time at Papyrus. Sans was ready to fling the human aside, physically or with blue magic, but Papyrus ran off before they could do anything. That thing started to follow him, but Sans had some last words to it. “i’ll be straight-forward with you. my brother’d really like to see a human... so, y’know, it’d really help me out... if you kept pretending to be one.”  
It still didn’t have a word to say to him. It simply turned on its heel and left. As soon as it was out of sight, Sans took the nearest shortcut to where Papyrus was. He sat through a few puzzles and some banter, but spent most of the time watching the thing as it ignored Papyrus’ puzzles. It was getting harder and harder to convince himself before was just a dream. He should have checked the machine. He couldn’t go do it now, though, or Papyrus would be alone with that thing.  
On the bridge, it almost made Papyrus give up on puzzles. Sans had a hard time not killing it right then and there, but luckily Pap snapped out of it pretty quickly.  
“hmmm... guess we didn’t need your help to have a good time after all,” he said as it approached him. Why it always walked up and stared at him after every encounter, he didn’t know, but it was starting to creep him out. “... say, i’ve been thinking. seems like you’re gonna fight my brother pretty soon. here’s some friendly advice. if you keep going the way you are now...” he could feel his rage boiling over and pulling his magic in to his soul, as if getting ready for a fight. He could feel the lights in his eyes go out. “ **you’re gonna have a bad time.** ” he said, snapping his eyes open. But when he looked at the human... there were two of them, even though there was clearly only one. He could see the one that was staring at him as clearly as ever. But there was another one, a real human. It was crying. In a split second of confusion and terror, Sans felt a shortcut open up right underneath him, which he took without a second thought. He could see the real human jump in terror as he did, and for the first time wondered what it looked like when he took shortcuts. Not that he’d shown anyone before.  
The shortcut ended up taking him to his room, which was comforting at first. Then he wondered if the thing could take shortcuts as well. He stepped out into the hall, making sure to lock the door behind himself, and checked on Papyrus. After such a disappointing day, he probably sulking in his room. And sure enough, he was.  
“hey bro,” Sans said as he walked in. Papyrus was pacing, an abandoned action figure war lying on the ground.  
“I’M NOT SURE WHAT I DID WRONG, SANS! THEY WERE MEANT TO LOVE PUZZLES!” Papyrus sighed, not stopping his pacing.  
“heheh, i guess they’re just weird. they didn’t like my jokes, either.” Sans sat on the bed and watched his brother.  
“WELL, I SUPPOSE THEY AREN’T A _TOTAL_ WEIRDO, ” Papyrus muttered. He still seemed troubled, but Sans had to go to the lab and find out what was going on. He didn’t have time to-  
( ** _DO NOT LEAVE PAPYRUS ALONE_** )  
Sans gasped as pain shot through his right eye. “SANS?” Papyrus said, pausing. He took a tentative step toward Sans.  
“it’s fine, d-don’t worry... look, pap, can you stay here for a bit?”  
“BRO-”  
“i’ll be right back. just... please?”  
Papyrus nodded fearfully, but Sans didn’t have time to worry about not scaring his brother. In fact, maybe being a little scared would make him stay put. Sans rushed out of the room and into his lab, every step sending a shooting pain through his skull. He had to see. He had to see what the machine said about that kid, and about himself. By the time he reached his lab, it was all he could do not to trip down the stairs. He had to stumble over to the machine, clutching his eye. Squinting through the pain, he tore the sheet off it and got to work.  
Everything was wrong. The readings only started at yesterday, when Sans was _sure_ he could remember things from before then. But more immediately worrying: there was more than one Sans and Papyrus showing up. Not quite two of each of them though. What did that even mean? He had to look at the rest of the information before he tried to draw any conclusions. He started to print off the data, but suddenly he was in the grip of blue magic and being slammed into the roof. For a moment he though Papyrus may have done it, since he was the only other monster Sans knew with blue magic, but that was before he saw that his hand was glowing. Somehow, for some reason, he was doing this to himself? His headache felt somehow even worse, as if his skull was shattering under someone’s foot.  
( ** _GO BACK TO PAPYRUS!_** )  
Of course, the other Sans! It wasn’t running around somewhere half-formed, it was a part of him!  
( ** _PAPYRUS!_** )  
Sans gave in and agreed to go back. The urgency of his other self stopped him from asking questions at that moment. The headache faded somewhat, and he was released from the blue magic. Very definitely panicking now, although how much of that panic was his other self’s he didn’t know, Sans raced back upstairs to his brother’s room. But Papyrus wasn’t there. Guided by intuition (experience), Sans ran outside and went east. There were no shortcuts to where he thought (knew) Papyrus (his dust) would be.  
Dust and snow were so hard to tell apart, but the red cloth poking out of the fresh snow couldn’t have been clearer. “p-pap?” Sans’ legs crumpled underneath him and he collapsed in the snow. How much of what he was lying in used to be his brother? “papyrus...?” The throbbing in his skull matched pace with his tears.  
( ** _YOUR FAULT! LEFT HIM! ARROGANT IDIOT! BURN IN HELL!_** )  
He was right. Sans should have listened. He should have known something was wrong. He was too caught up in his work, and he didn’t notice. How did he not hear Papyrus leaving? He should have stayed with Papyrus. He should have killed the human the moment they met. He should have never promised that woman he wouldn’t. He should have never brought Papyrus to Snowdin. He should have... he should have...  
The snow was melting around him again. Blue flames were everywhere except his broken eye. The pain was worse than ever, and he was gouging at it again. He didn’t care.


	3. Blood and Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I swear I didn't mean to do this when I started writing the chapter, but things just... got out of hand.  
> "Oh no, this is gonna end badddly." -The_Boonsman, predicting what even I didn't know.

It was hard to tell how long Sans lay crumpled in the snow, clutching Papyrus’ cape to his chest. His screams had died down to whimpers, and his fingers were only tracing the gouges on his skull instead of carving them deeper. (He had to get up.)  
God, he _was_ crazy. “ heheh... heheheheheheheheh...” He still couldn’t stop grinning. Papyrus was _dead_ and he couldn’t stop laughing and grinning. He was _crazy_.  
The other him grew tired of his breakdown and lifted Sans up himself with blue magic (which they should have been out of after that breakdown). He almost fell right over again before the other him took more direct control.

Sans brushed himself off, slowly. It was strange to be moving this body around. It wasn’t like moving normally, it was like puppeteering. His movements were sluggish and uncoordinated, and he had to support himself with blue magic whenever he started to feel off-balance.  
Seeing another Papyrus die... well, he had already mourned. Other than that little slip when they found him, he wouldn’t allow himself to feel for this one too. His bro had died a while ago, and the other iterations of him were just echoes. That was how it had to be.  
He turned his right eye light off. It was a waste of magic now that everyone was dead, and they needed all the magic they could get. After a moment of thought, he took Papyrus’ cape and wrapped it around his skull as a makeshift eye patch. He and Undine could probably bond over that. The thought gave him a chuckle before he realized that she was probably dead too. Even if she wasn’t, Papyrus was the only reason they really talked to each other. She would kill Sans for letting him die, not that he would mind.  
Wouldn’t he? For some reason, the thought of dying didn’t appeal to him as much as it used to. It certainly appealed to the Sans that, in his mind, was still crumpled in the snow. But this Sans, the one that had already died to Chara once...  
**WAS FILLED WITH DETERMINATION.**  
It was enough to gain full control, snapping into the body as if it was his own, because it was now. The other Sans was pushed into the background. Sans could feel his left eye flare up, and he could see the soul of a monster hiding nearby. With an internal grin that finally matched the one he wore on the outside, he peppered it with bones and drank in the EXP it gave him. He felt a flicker of quiet horror from another Sans ( _the_ other Sans?), but it left as quickly as it came.  
“ **heheh. who knew it was that easy?** ”

The monster king was tending to his garden. It took him a while to notice Sans. He had to cough to let him know he was there.  
“Oh, Sans!” Asgore said, smiling. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked! How... are... Is that Papyrus’ cape?”  
Sans continued grinning. “ **how observant.** ”

Sans loved the hallway outside King Asgore’s castle. It was one of the only places in the underground that had the illusion of real light. The orange glow was like a never-ending sunset. Although, it probably did end, eventually. He would make sure of it.  
They were coming back. _Again_. They looked confident.  
“ heya. you’ve been busy, huh?”  
“I don’t need to hear this again, Sans. We both know-”  
“ **I’ve been busy too.** ”  
“W-what...?” Sans could feel the thing checking him. “T-the... toughest enemy. Can deal... oh... I’m... not really sure what to call a number with that many digits.”  
“ **L E T ’S  J U S T  G E T  T O  T H E  P O I N T.** ”


	4. Duality and Pain

He was back in Snowdin. No matter how high his LV was, that _thing_ just kept coming back. No matter how much damage he did, they were always in perfect condition when they returned. He had to swallow a scream of frustration. If he screamed, his bro- this timeline’s Papyrus would come running.  
As soon as his breathing was under control, he tore open a shortcut and headed to the ruins.

In another, more peaceful timeline, Sans stopped peering into the mind of his other self and looked around, reminding himself of what his timeline was really like. No-one had died, and Frisk had been teaching him how to spy on other timelines. Seeing the kid sitting opposite him, watching calmly from their spot on the couch, he wondered if he was the only sane version of himself. How could he want to kill the kid? Worse, how could he kill all of those monsters just to do it? He shuddered, wondering if it was this bad every time he lost Pap.  
“Well?” Frisk asked.  
“it’s... not going well. chara managed to kill m- him,” he said. Sans still hadn’t told Pap or Frisk exactly what his other self had been doing. He just had to hope it wouldn’t become important.  
“SANS, YOU ARE LOOKING VERY TIRED,” Papyrus said. Sans hated that he was worrying him.  
“don’tcha mean... _bone_ tired, bro? ” Sans laughed. Papyrus groaned and said something about making something to give him more energy.  
Once he was in the kitchen, Frisk whispered, “Knowing Chara, they’ve RESET by now, right? They always do after k-killing you.” Sans nodded. “Hm. If they’ve RESET, they should be in a timeline where Papyrus is alive now. I guess that means you can take a break.”  
Logically, he knew he had agreed to let Papyrus help. He had promised Pap that he would. But... he hadn’t counted on his other self being _completely out of his mind_. He never wanted Pap to see him like that. “ nah, i’m starting to get the hang of it. gimme a .a bit more time and i... what’s that look supposed to mean, kid?”  
“It _means_ , ‘tell me what’s going on’, Sans. You agreed. You said you wouldn’t try to stop Pap from helping. You even said that after seeing... what Chara can do. What happened that made you change your mind _again_?” Frisk asked. They were being gentle before, but now they sounded annoyed.  
He wanted to tell them. He really did. He just... wasn’t feeling up to it right now. “ guess i’m just indecisive. maybe. thinking about it, now i’m not so sure,” he said with a wink. In the second it took for the joke to sink in for Frisk, Sans was already halfway to his room. “i’ll just have a nap. should be good to keep going after that.”  
Before Frisk could object, Sans had already slipped into his room and locked it. He leaned against the inside of the door, trying not to let his eyes flare up with his panic. What would it mean if he let them, but only one burned?  
He had to know what his other self was doing. With almost enough effort to make him pass out, he pushed his mind back into the other timeline.

The thing was walking out of the ruins, covered in dust. It paused when it saw Sans standing in the middle of the path.  
“Oh-ho. This is new. Finally. Having to sit through your brother’s blathering one more time may have actually somehow made me want to kill him even more. Crazy, right?”  
“...”  
“Come on, Sans! Don’t you know how to greet and old pal?” Chara held their hand out, then paused. “Well. Looks like another split here. Can you feel it, Sans? What about the broken Sans? Can he feel it? How about... T H E S A N S S P Y I N G O N U S R I G H T N O W? C A N Y O U F E E L I T?”  
Another Sans watching them? “ **if we have company, maybe i should try to be civil. so, uh... friendship... it’s really great, right? let’s quit fighting.** ”  
The thing looked shocked. Tentatively, it took a step forward. Then another. The knife was hanging loosely from their hand. One more step-  
Suddenly, they drew their arm back and threw the knife right into Sans’ broken eye. At least, he thought they did, but for some reason he also saw the kid bursting into tears and running toward him, apologizing over and over. It didn’t matter which one was real. Sans killed them both.

Sans, the sane one, the ‘spy’, gasped in pain as he felt the knife shatter his skull (again). He had to relax. It didn’t really happen to him, not this him, he was fine. He put a hand to his head to steady himself as he stood, and it came away covered in sweat.  
_wait..._ That wasn’t sweat. His face was _melting_. He toppled over, trying to think how this had happened. This was the determination from his other self, he was sure. Chara had said the timeline was splitting. Last time that happened, Pap got pushed into this timeline. Had the other Sans-?  
( **you’re right. now let me take over from here.** )  
“Sans? I think something happened in the other timeline! Papyrus and I both felt something! Are you okay?” Fr( **CHARA** )isk yelled from the other side of the door. Sans had to put all his focus into not blasting the door and the kid away right there, so all he could do in the way of a reply was a strained choking noise. “Oh no... no no no no no! Sans, sit tight! Whatever’s happening, we’re gonna fix it! Papyrus! We need to get this door open!” Frisk called. A second later, a bone flew through the handle, breaking the lock off and flinging it open. Sans tried to turn away from them. They couldn’t see what was happening to him, and if he looked at them he had no idea what the other Sans would make him do. But he couldn’t move or feel his bones. He had to look at them.  
( **THE THING WAS THERE. IT HAD TO DIE.** )  
Sans saw himself raise his arm, and it lit up with blue flames. He was grabbing the human, and he couldn’t stop himself from throwing them across the room. Luckily, Papyrus caught them before they hit anything.  
“b-bro...”  
( **IT WASN’T HIS BROTHER. IT WAS A DISTRACTION, A SHADOW, AND IT WAS PROTECTING THAT THING.** )  
The other Sans turned his attention toward Papyrus, and that was the final straw. The fire jumped, bursting from all over, but it was fueled by the sane Sans’ anger (for now).  
“ **bro, get yourself and the kid out of here.** ” If he could hold out until the determination melted him, then they would be safe.  
Papyrus took two shaky steps toward the kid before stopping. “N-NO! SORRY, SANS, BUT AS THE ‘MOST COOL’ BROTHER, I CAN’T LEAVE YOU HERE.”  
“Papyrus,” the kid ( **thing** ) _the kid_ coughed, still recovering from being thrown around. “If we can bring him to Hotland, I might know how to fix this.”  
Sans really didn’t have the strength to argue. He was using it all to push back his other self. He couldn’t even feel it when Papyrus coated him in blue magic and started moving toward the door. He paused at the kitchen, staring at a spot in the corner.  
“Papyrus, we really don’t have time for whatever this is,” Frisk said, gently tugging on his cape. “We need to get to Alphys now.”  
The last thing Sans hear before he passed out was, “ I THINK... I KNOW A SHORTCUT.”

“... problem is... don’t know which Sans...”  
The voice was far away, but it gave Sans something to focus on.  
“OUR SANS, OF COURSE!”  
“They’re all technically ours.”  
“I st-still have n-n-no idea what’s h-happening.”  
“Sorry, Alphys. We appreciate the help, but we can’t tell you.”  
“R-r-right. I’ll j-just... go?”  
“Thanks.”  
“I’M SURE IT WILL BE FINE!”  
“... That smile... isn’t a good sign.”  
Finally, Sans managed to fully regain consciousness. He was lying on a metal slab in... oh. He was back in the lab. He could feel most of his bones again, but his right eye socket was still numb. Papyrus was sitting next to his bed, holding his hand tightly. Frisk was further away, leaning against the wall. They had positioned themselves pretty close to the door as if expecting to have to run.  
“SANS?” Papyrus said, sounding uncertain despite his previous optimism.  
“sup bro?” he said weakly, flinching at the pain of speaking.  
“Can you stand?” Frisk asked, edging a little closer to the door.  
“anything for you, kid. i’m... _putty in your hands_. ” No-one laughed beside Sans, and even he could only manage an uncomfortable chuckle. Papyrus didn’t even groan.  
“WE TRIED TO FIX YOU THE BEST WE COULD, BUT... UM...”  
“Best just let him see for himself,” Frisk sighed, waving toward a mirror on the far side of the room. They shifted from one foot to the other, not taking their eyes off Sans.  
He sat up slowly and slid off the bed, stumbling when his feet hit the ground. Papyrus caught him before he fell and helped him walk over to the mirror.  
They had probably had to put him together from scratch. He was slightly taller than before, which explained why walking felt weird. But his face was the part that concerned him the most. That grin was back, and there was a bandage covering his right eye. For a terrifying second, he thought that he couldn’t stop the grinning, but he managed a concerned frown and then a weak smile of relief. He moved on to the eye. With trembling hands, he pulled the bandages off. His eye was stuck, melted half-closed and dim. A thin seam ran from the socket up his skull. In the shock, his focus slipped and the grin snapped back onto his face. His breathing became unsteady and he tried to stumble away from the mirror, but Papyrus was still holding him steady. Without a word, Pap kneeled down and pulled Sans into a hug. He returned it as best he could, but his arms were weak.  
“well. i’m not dead,” he said. That was always a plus. Back when he was waking up in Snowdin again and again, that was pretty much the only plus, so it was nice to fall back on a familiar reason to live. Not being dead after all that... filled him with... determination? It was still there, but there was a lot less of it.  
“That’s thanks to Papyrus. If he hadn’t found that shortcut over here, we never would have gotten you to the DT Extraction Machine in time,” Frisk explained. “Once we got you here he kind of... pushed you back into shape with blue magic while we removed all the excess determination. The only thing that pushed back was your eye, so we couldn’t fix it properly. Sorry, but it’s stuck like that. Even healing magic wouldn’t fix it. Papyrus tried for a while.”  
Papyrus gave a tired thumbs up, and Sans just realized exactly how tired he looked. He was even swaying a little bit.  
“aw, pap. were you worried about me?” Sans asked. Papyrus nodded and yawned.  
“He hasn’t slept for about... about two days now. He spent most of the time trying to heal you,” Frisk said. They walked over and put a hand on Papyrus’ shoulder. “Now that he’s up, maybe you should get some rest, Pap.”  
Something snapped inside Sans’ head for a moment. “D O N’ T T O U C H H I M, Y O U D I R T Y B R O T H E R K I L L E R.” He could feel his left eye flare up. The kid pulled back, shaking a little, and even Papyrus stiffened. There was an awkward pause. In that time, Sans realized what he was doing. With some effort, he forced that grin off his face. “frisk... sorry, i don’t know what happened there.”  
“N-no problem. I mean, even if you- if anything did happen, I could just LOAD, right?” they said with a nervous laugh. “I’m just gonna go... check on Alphys. She must be pretty confused right now.” Frisk backed out the door, trying to smile.  
“DON’T WORRY, SANS. TOMORROW, WE’RE GONNA GO TAKE CARE OF CHARA. THEN THIS WILL ALL BE OVER, RIGHT?” Papyrus said, hopefully. He was relaxed again. Pap was far too trusting. After all, who knew when Sans would snap again. This time it was against the kid, which was bad enough, but Sans still remembered how the other him had wanted to kill Papyrus. How could he know that wouldn’t happen again? He hadn’t heard his other self’s voice but, obviously, it wasn’t all gone. Not if the fear and anger at the kid were still there. But he couldn’t bear to tell Pap any of that. He could never, ever tell Pap what he almost did.  
“yeah. sure, bro. sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do these chapters always turn out too long or too short? Oh well, makes up for the short update last time. Also, OH MY GOSH I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE READ THIS! I swear, the counter's broken, it's counting each reader as three readers or something. Still, it makes me so happy!
> 
> Now, time to write this from Pap's POV. Poor skelebro. I didn't want to upset him, but this is just what ended up happening. I'd feel sorry for Sans too, but this is pretty standard for him.
> 
> PS: 'Wow, Sans! I met Gaster at a little writer's convention in my head. I can really see the resemblance now!' Sans was not pleased with this comment. He also had some choice words about my sanity, but I chose to ignore those.


	5. Chara and Frisk

Sans didn’t manage to sleep. Every time he tried he saw the faces of every monster that he, no, his other self, had killed. But every time he tried to feel horrified at his actions, all he could feel was the LV. He spent his time pacing around the small room. That was another thing that was bothering him. They were back in the lab. It was pretty obvious why the kid had brought him there, and even why Papyrus had to be there, but he still didn’t like it. It wasn’t enough to make him wish they had left him to die, it just made him uncomfortable. He jumped at the sound of the door opening, but relaxed when he saw it was Frisk. He nervously ran a hand over that seam from his eye, hating how similar the gesture was to what his other self did when he was upset. Which was pretty much all the time.  
“Do you wanna get out of here for a bit?” they asked.  
“sure kid. grillby’s? i know a shortcut.” But the kid shook their head and gestured for him to follow. “the restaurant at mtt’s? we could probably reserve a table, but i’m not sure about food.” Frisk stayed quiet and kept walking toward Asgore’s house. “are we gonna talk to the king?”  
They made it to the judgement hall. Frisk stopped and turned toward the light, holding a hand up the shield their eyes. “Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Even if we shouldn’t have those memories.” They were where Sans usually stood, and Sans was in their place. “This light... it’s pretty bright, isn’t it? When people are lit up like this, it’s like I can see right through them, to their soul. So, Sans,” they sighed, turning to face him, “where did you get so much LOVE?”  
He felt his sins crawling on his back. “l-listen, kid, i didn’t... i mean, the other me...”  
“Haha, I guess you’re right. Throwing me around, killing people... that isn’t you. But it could be, couldn’t it? That grin you’re wearing proves that the ‘other you’ and this you are the same person now. You’re getting pretty close to trying to kill me as we speak.” He couldn’t deny it, so he stayed quiet. After a brief pause, the kid continued. “Now I think I finally understand exactly how you feel about me. Scared. Disgusted. Waiting for the murderous rampage you’re sure is coming.” Every word was like a knife to his soul. “But at the same time... hopeful. Maybe this is the time when everything just works. Maybe this time no-one has to die. It’s a small hope, and it hurts. After all, if we were just evil then we wouldn’t have to feel bad about going all out against each other. But we’re not. Your soul is fractured, and it’s been patched with a hate-filled murderer’s, but somewhere in there is my friend. Right now, that’s the Sans that’s in control. But that may not always be the case.”  
He had taken just about all he could of this speech. It was too close to everything he had been thinking. “just get to the point,” he muttered, unable to look at them.  
“If you’re going to snap and kill someone, make sure it’s me. I can come back, after all. Papyrus can’t.” Sans felt his eye lights shrink down to pinpricks as they stared at the kid in horror. How had they known? Frisk continued, answering his silent question. “I’ve seen the expression you make right before a kill, too many times to count. When you looked at Pap back in your room, that was exactly how you looked at him. And he’s not stupid. He saw it too. But even though he can read you like a book, he wouldn’t even believe himself if he tried to think about what that look meant. Because a cool brother like you would never harm him. Right? ...Heh. He’s not stupid, but he’s far too trusting. And if you betray that trust, even if you don’t mean to...” The way the shadows fell on Frisk’s face made it look like their eyes had disappeared. “ **You’re gonna have a bad time.** ” They tilted their head to the side and smiled, and the mixture of cute and threatening reminded Sans far too much of Chara. “If he dies then I’ll just have to RESET, because LOADING is becoming pretty unstable. But with his new power, he’ll still remember everything you do. Then again, you might not have to deal with that, because of your broken soul. If I were to RESET, then there’s a chance you wouldn’t be brought back at all. You’d have to settle for keeping Gaster company.”  
Sans couldn’t stop himself from shaking. His breathing was unsteady again. “this really isn’t like you, frisk. or is it chara now?”  
“It’s still me, Sans. I just grew up. You have no idea how many timelines I’ve had to go through. Hell, I have no idea. I may still look like a kid, but I’m much older. And I learned something. Just because I’m being good, doesn’t mean I have to be nice about it.” They stood there, Frisk’s stare pinning Sans to the spot like blue magic until their gaze flicked back to the entrance to the hall. “Oh! Papyrus! Glad you could make it!” they said. Papyrus was standing in the doorway, looking around at the room. Frisk walked over and grabbed Papyrus’ hand. “Are you ready?” they asked, leading him toward the center of the hallway. “We’re going to do something a little risky, but I’ve crunched the numbers and it should work out fine.” Sans didn’t like the uncertain terms the kid was using, but watched as they led Papyrus over to Sans' usual spot. “You’ll have to stand about... here, and Sans, I’m going to need you to move out of the way. I need to stand there.” He wasn’t exactly sure what the kid was doing, but they must have had a plan. He moved to lean against a pillar further back down the hall. “Alright. Papyrus, I am sorry about this.” Sans was already on edge, but that just crossed the line. He held the kid in place, only just resisting the urge to throw them away. “Sans. If you could let go of my soul, that would be pretty helpful.”  
One chance. One chance to explain. He wouldn’t just let the kid do whatever they wanted without a reason. “you’ll have to tell me what you’re doing first, kid,” he said, sweating. He really wanted to believe it was Frisk doing the talking, but there was no way to tell.  
Frisk sighed. “We’re going to pull our realities together. With what I know about Chara and what information you two have given me about the other timeline, I’m almost certain that they and Papyrus are the only ones left alive in that timeline. That means we’re the only ones that will be affected. For Pap, it should only be a few moments of disorientation before he’s back to normal. Exactly like remembering a previous timeline. For me... well, since it’s Chara there instead of just an alternate me, there’s a chance that I’ll be destroyed, or at least suppressed. If that happens then I’m counting on the two of you to kill me.” Sans was a little bothered by how little the idea of killing Frisk disturbed him. Papyrus started to object, but Frisk talked over him. “I’ve made a SAVE just outside this room, Pap. If I die, I’ll just go back there. Hey, I won’t even be taking away any of your memories by doing that this time, so we won’t have to go through this conversation again! Anyway, it’s not like it’s _definitely_ going to happen.”  
Papyrus looked over at Sans as if asking him to decide what to do. Hadn't the kid said they wanted to avoid LOADING? But a decision had to be made, and it was apparently down to him. With a shrug, he released the kid.  
“ as long as you’re sure pap will be fine,” he said, not daring to look at his brother, just in case his concern over the LOADING showed on his face.  
“I know it,” Frisk said before turning back to Papyrus. “Okay! So you need to start by ‘spying’ on your other self. But you need to keep your sense of this self. Hold onto that feeling and use it to pull that other Papyrus back here. I’m going to do the same with Chara, which normally wouldn’t work, but with the only other inhabitant of that world being pulled here they’ll have to cooperate.”  
Papyrus nodded, but then paused. “WHAT IF THERE ARE OTHER INHABITANTS LEFT ALIVE? WILL THIS STILL WORK?” That was a good question, and one that Frisk apparently hadn’t even considered.  
After a brief pause, they nodded. “Yes, a majority being pulled here should still force Chara back into my soul. And anyone else who’s affected will probably be confused at first, but without the power I gave you those memories will fade eventually.” Sans and Papyrus glanced at each other, sharing the same concern. They both knew how badly all the alternate memories could affect someone. “Guys. If we don’t do this, Chara may kill everyone. Forever. In all timelines. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and this is one of those times.”  
Sans didn’t like the way Frisk said that, but before he could confront them about it Papyrus spoke up. “ALRIGHT. LET’S... LET’S SAVE EVERYONE!” he said bravely. He was so cool. Papyrus and Frisk both closed their eyes, concentrating. Sans took a second to relax. It was out of his hands now. He almost wanted to take a nap, but instead he stood straight and kept an eye on the human. He had no idea how long it would take to collapse two timelines into each other, but he didn’t want to be caught unaware if that thing came out swinging. He waited for a long time. Glancing at Papyrus, he saw his brother’s face twist in rage. His eyes were still closed, but Sans could see the streams of orange flame flickering out from under his eyelids. Sans froze, unable to believe it. Papyrus hadn’t been able to do that since-  
The human’s eyes snapped open for a second. “Papyrus? _Come on, Papyrus! I know you can do it! I believe in you!_ ” they said, choking out the words before hunching over and gasping in pain. Sans ran a hand over his skull. He couldn’t... he didn’t know who to run to, and for a heart-stopping moment he felt completely lost. Then he felt that wrench on his soul and knew that they at least had Papyrus back. But the human... Sans took a few concerned steps forward, but forced himself to stop. They didn’t know which one it was yet. The human screeched, and Papyrus started running toward them. Sans needed to get between them, and as soon as he had that thought he felt a shortcut open underneath him, leading to the exact spot he needed to go. He went through and held and arm up to stop his brother.  
“wait,” he said. He could almost feel Pap’s concern for the kid, but they couldn’t be sure it was even their human.  
Frisk’s screaming shifted and turned into chillingly delighted laughter. “Oh! Well!” they said, and it was definitely Chara. They got up, moving at awkward angles as if their body didn’t really fit right. “What _have_ we done now? Hmm... Hahaha, I can almost taste the lives left in this timeline. Can you sense them too, Sans?” Sans started shaking. He had been ignoring it, but... he really could. His brother’s soul stood out the most, bright, strong, and _right there behind him_. Chara said something, but everything seemed muffled except the pulsing beat of Papyrus’ soul. Sans grabbed Chara and threw them into the ceiling. He had to shut them up before they got to him any more than they already had. They disappeared, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He felt them behind him a second before they actually appeared. Spinning to face them, he created a blaster and fired away, but he almost hit Papyrus. That thought was like a punch to the gut, bringing him back to his senses. “ damn! sorry, bro i-” he started to say, but Papyrus cut him off.  
“WE NEED TO STAY BACK TO BACK!” he shouted, and Sans nodded. Chara appeared again, this time inches from Papyrus’ face, and was smacked away by a ring of bones. For good measure, Sans threw them to the roof again. They disappeared again and showed up at the other end of the room.   
“One hit is all I need,” they giggled. Papyrus grabbed them this time and slammed them into the floor, holding them there as he sent a rush of bones their way. Had they managed to kill it already? But the bones turned blue before they hit the thing. Pap just couldn’t kill them, could he? Sans prepared to do it himself, but then he saw _another_ one of them falling from the roof. It was going to land right on top of Papyrus!  
“ **pap!** ” Sans yelled, flinging bones at the thing and pinning it to the ceiling. Papyrus looked up, and Sans killed the other one while he was distracted. For less than a second, he waited for the world to LOAD. Then the laughter of a thousand Charas filled the hall. From behind the pillars emerged a crowd of the things, and each one pulled out their own red knife.  
“One hit...” they all said at once. The charged, some leaping, some going straight for them, others ducking low. Papyrus and Sans moved as one, using every bone, blaster, and ounce of magic they had, but every time they beat one away, other would be right there to take its place. He was starting to tire, and he could feel Papyrus wavering too.  
“ **focus, pap,** ” Sans said through gritted teeth. If one of the slipped, even for a second, they would die. And Sans wouldn’t allow Papyrus to die now. He wouldn’t let that happen again. And with that thought came a rush of determination that made everything brighter and clearer. Not only that, but within the depths of Chara’s soul, he could feel something resonating. He and Papyrus looked at each other, and they both knew they were thinking the same thing. Without a word, they tore through the wave of things together and screamed, “ ** _FRISK!_** ”  
A Lost Soul appeared.  
[*This is all just a game.]  
Sans took a step towards the kid. “you’re very determined. no matter what, you’ll just keep going.” The Lost Soul vaguely recalls having to think outside the box.  
[*I can do whatever I want.]  
Papyrus moved toward the human. “EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY! I, PAPYRUS, WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR!” The Lost Soul doesn’t want to do a violence.  
[*One RESET and I can start over.]  
Both brothers took the final steps toward Frisk. “you didn’t get this far by giving up.” “YOU HAVE SOMETHING CALLED DETERMINATION.” “so as long as you hold on...” “SO AS LONG AS YOU DO WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART...” “ _We believe you can do the right thing._ ”  
The Lost Soul is filled with determination!  
“We’re going to SAVE everyone!” Frisk said, wrapping both brothers in a hug. Together, they turned to face what remained of Chara. The thing was swaying on their feet, but still standing.  
They laughed, but it sounded thinner and more desperate. “We had a deal, Frisk. I brought this world back _after you_ _let me kill them all_. Your soul was the price you paid.” Well, that was certainly news. Sans would have to have a talk to Frisk once it was all over.  
“And look how much use you got out of it,” Frisk said, gesturing to the piles of bodies that littered the hall. He had to give them credit for their confidence. “I think you’ve had quite enough fun. And besides, when I gave you my soul... I never said you could keep it.”  
Chara let out a noise somewhere between laughter and screaming and raised their arms. Countless glowing red knives appeared, flying at the three companions. Frisk dodged with the grace of thousands of timelines worth of practice, while Sans and Papyrus protected each other without hesitation. Papyrus seized Chara’s soul with blue magic and dragged them to face Frisk, who spun under one of the glowing knives, grabbing it as it passed and ramming it deep into Chara’s soul. Their eyes dimmed, the ever-present grin widening slightly. “Heheh. Well done. I didn’t know... you had it in you...” Red dust started to peel away from Chara’s body, and all the other bodies lying still in the corners of the room. Soon, those specks were all that was left of the creature, catching the light as they danced away.  
There was an anxious pause. “Is it... really over?” Frisk asked, still facing away from the brothers. Their single tear hitting the floor was deafening in the silence. “We really did it. It’s finished...” They turned to face the two, a huge smile spreading across their face. “We won!” they cheered, exploding into a fit of relieved laughter. It was real laughter, not the twisted noise that Chara made. Papyrus started laughing too, running over to the human and sweeping them into a spinning hug. Sans could barely believe it. Was it just another fake-out? He waited for some sort of sign that they were doomed, but it never came. Papyrus ran over, the kid perched on his shoulders, and swept Sans up too. The movement broke him out of his trance, and he could fully accept it. They really _had_ won.  
“ JUST WAIT UNTIL UNDYNE HEARS ABOUT THIS!” Papyrus said through the laughter. Sans didn’t really have to heart to tell Papyrus not to mention this to Undyne at that moment. Besides... maybe a little bit of honesty wouldn’t hurt. They would have to explain why she shouldn’t try to capture Frisk, after all. Everything was off-track, and Sans wasn’t sure what would happen next, but for that small moment, he decided to just let himself enjoy their victory.  
They had _won._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh. You know, I was going to write one more confrontation with Chara (using that whole 'you sold your soul to me thing' to terrorize them one more time), but... I think I like this ending too much. Maybe it's best just to let them win!  
> There's going to be a short epilogue, and then more stories from this AU after this, so don't go away! The ‘more stories’ will explain anything that needs explaining, so don’t be afraid to ask about anything that’s confusing or left vague! It’ll help me see what I should write about first.


	6. Epilogue

Things actually changed, which was unusual for Sans. Frisk had moved in with him and Papyrus, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It gave him an excuse to move back into his brother’s room, which helped to keep the nightmares manageable. Papyrus built them a bunk bed, and Sans claimed the bottom bunk. Sometimes he woke up and could feel Papyrus’ soul the same way he did back in the Judgement Hall. Every time that happened, Papyrus seemed to wake up moments after and reach his hand down over the side of the bed. As soon as Sans knew he wasn’t going to do anything violent, he took his brother’s hand. It was comforting, and the immense feeling of safety lulled him back to sleep.  
There was still tension between himself and Frisk after the talk they had. They were friendly enough around Papyrus, but when they were alone any attempt at conversation usually lapsed into an awkward silence. It was in one of those silences, since Papyrus was off at his cooking lesson with Undyne, that Sans decided to ask the question that was on his mind.  
He didn’t want to start right off with the question, so instead he said, “pap was... asking me about my lab yesterday. he said he wanted to know more about me. less secrets, you know? i told him i’d let him know later today, when he got back.”  
Frisk raised an eyebrow. “And are you?” they asked. Sans shrugged. “If this is your way of asking my opinion on the subject... I think you should. He’s pretty involved already. May as well tell him everything, right? That way, he won’t make any mistakes based on misinformation. Besides, he actually makes for a pretty good lab partner. He doesn’t get a lot of the science, but he asks questions you and I would never even think of. It’s led to more than one breakthrough.”  
“yeah. it’s just... if i tell him now, he’ll remember. even after... even after your RESET.” Here it was, the topic he was really trying to talk about. “so... when are you planning on RESETTING, kid?”  
Frisk tilted their head to the side, thinking. “Hm. You know, I don’t think I will.”  
“w-what?”  
They reached over and tapped one of his ribs, around where a human heart would be. “I told you, with a soul like that we don’t know what would happen to you. Right now I don’t even want to risk a LOAD. Because we’re friends. I know it’s weird between us right now, but we’ll learn to trust each other again eventually. And it’s not like I really need to RESET. Even though we’re still in the Underground, everyone’s happy. That’s really all that matters.”  
“so you haven’t RESET, just for me? i bet you could tell i was scared”  
“It was a little obvious,” they admitted.  
Sans chuckled. “so, you could say...”  
“Sans.”  
“that you...”  
“Sans, no.”  
“ _saw right through me?_ ”  
Frisk buried their face in their hands, trying not to laugh. “Damn it, Sans! At least wait until Pap’s around so we can laugh at his reaction!”  
“sorry, but i _don’t have the heart_ to _pun_ ish him with these jokes.”  
“Oh god...”  
“i haven’t done a lot of work on them, so they’re pretty _bare boned_. ”  
Frisk curled up and tried to hide their laughter, falling off the couch. “Haha, jeez!” they laughed, sitting up. “I’d go back to my room to recover from all these bad puns, but I don’t trust the stairs.”  
“oh, kid.”  
“They’re always _up_ to something!”  
Sans laughed. “ oh you actually said it!”  
“Even if they weren’t , I wouldn’t want to be around them. Half the time when I use them they keep _bringing me down_!”  
Both of them burst out laughing, and spent the rest of the day trading terrible puns. Papyrus walked in for a second, announcing his arrival as usual, but one look at them sitting on the floor giggling and he was right back out the door. His reaction spurred another round of laughter from the two of them.  
Maybe this time, everything really would be okay. And for once, when Sans thought that, he didn’t think it was a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this arc, but not the end of this AU. There are a few things I left a little vague on purpose, which will be expanded on in Part 3 of the Brothertale series! If there's anything you want me to expand on, be sure to ask about it in the comments!  
> This one took a lot longer that Pap's epilogue, mostly because of the puns. I'm pretty bad at puns.


End file.
